What can you tell us and tease our readers about what they can expect from the show?
Mouna:I think they can expect to be entertained…
Loren:Yes.
Mouna:… to be educated, to be bedazzled and to be a bit…
Loren:Dazzled.
Mouna:… a bit, what’s the word when you’re?
Loren:Taken aback?
Mouna:Taken aback, shooketh.
These are all amazing things.
What can you maybe say about how the series might unfold as it goes?
Mouna:Without giving too much away, the series unfolds in really surprising ways.
[Viewers] can expect the unexpected and anticipate being surprised.
Loren:Yes, go on.
It is a journey.
I was like, “Wow.”
I know it aired earlier in Canada this year.
I was so happy that people were loving it.
I have been getting DMs already from people with their opinions of Lucy.
I can’t spoil anything.
Mouna:Yeah, your dad hated you.
[Laughs]
Loren:[Laughs] I have gotten a lot of email … not emails.
What year is this?
I’ve a lot of DMs and messages already from people having their ideas and their input.
People are liking it.
So as long as people hear about it and watch it, I think that you will love it.
Mouna:This is my fourth period show, not on purpose.
It has happened that I am a period girl.
The period shows love me.
I’ve done… What time period was “The Book of Negroes?”
I can’t remember, but I’ve done 1904 [and] 1908.
Mouna:The future.
Mouna:I want to be a…
Loren:The future.
I want to be-
Mouna:Dark horse.
I would love to play a …
Playing something like that nice little moment there would be cute.
Did they want to take any fashions from set?
That would be so fun!
Actually, you played into one of my questions perfectly.
One thing I’m obsessed with in period pieces is the costuming.
With “The Porter” specifically, what was the fashion like for you?
What was your reactions to it?
Were there maybe things you wanted to take from set?
Loren:Oh my gosh.
I wanted to take so many things from set.
My wardrobe was phenomenal.
I thought that was so cute with my little curly bob.
I wish that you could actually flash to each thing, because I had sparkles.
These were authentic costumes.
I was scratched a lot with sequins and all of this stuff, but was it worth it?
I felt so glamorous.
I loved the glamor, the head pieces, all of that.
The ’20s were a very fun time to portray for all of my showgirl things.
Mouna:For you.
Loren:For me, but you were killing that cake.
Mouna:My character was giving …
They were very much matronly.
There was no-
Loren:It was giving church.
My favorite was the night gown.
Loren:Because he’s still…
Mouna:That was the hardest part.
I didn’t want to take my wardrobe home.
It was beautiful, and it worked for the character wonderfully, but
Loren:Look at you.
You obviously would never.
Loren:You had to.
We all had to really dive in for our own characters.
I was watching every documentary I could on showgirls at the time.
I was watching other movies that were set in the ’20s.
I was looking up everything that I could …
I did a lot of research.
What about you, Mouna?
I read a lot of books.
I watched that Showgirls documentary, even though my character wasn’t a show girl.
I was really interested in how they spoke and the cadence of their speech and their accent.
It was so specific and interesting.
What should I do?
[There] was a lot of reading.
When I was building the character and building my world, I like to take little bits and pieces.
They were very helpful with the information.
Mouna:A university course, a whole syllabus.
Loren:It was literally a history lesson.
It shows in the [series], it really does.
Mouna, your character is really focused on this idea of community and tying people together.
How did you go about building that up, and what does community mean to you personally?
Mouna:I’m a very community-minded person.
You don’t have to go to a white hospital, you could go to your own people.
To see that on TV is also really amazing.
Mouna: We have Black maternal health organizations and all those things.
We still have to do that.
[Loren], I want to ask you about your character, too.
Your character is this rising star.
Loren:Oh my gosh.
I had a lot more support and love and balance than she has in her life.
She’s literally fighting for herself out there, which I am not.
I had a lot of support.
Lucy did not, but off camera, Lucy had a lot of support.
That was really fun.
I actually had to sit down with the show runner for a second.
I was like, “Do we have to do this?
Can we come up with another?”
I was very surprised by how much I felt.
I felt my fist ball up.
I was like, “Dang, this really actually hurt my feelings.”
“The Porter” is now streaming on BET+.
